Ruthless Facade
by Firebloom
Summary: Brought in as the Organization's sole female and lowest in rank, Larxene will have to prove herself many times over to the rogues she is forced to call comrades. All while battling to sate the frightening hunger of why it's so important to have a heart.
1. Born As Nothing

**A/N: On a whim, I decided to write this. But I'll keep up with it. I've always wondered how Larxene coped with the conditions she was under while in the Organization: the ONLY female in the ranks, as well as the lowest in rank (Roxas doesn't shown up yet for quite a while, remember?) Well, enjoy.**

* * *

The young woman eyed her surroundings with cold wariness and taut suspicion; she sensed the tension around the massive circular room crackling like brittle lightning. Her blue eyes flicked from cloaked figure to cloaked figure, somehow knowing that they were all males. The white-washed walls sickened her, the black figures a stark contrast to it all, making one feel forced to put their eyes to them. She felt intensely scrutinized underneath her ragged dark clothing, plucked from the world where she had been wandering as a mere vagrant. Her razor blond antenna strands swished as she snapped her head to a sudden, miniscule sound to her left, high above. A man had leapt to his feet, and he threw his hood off; the woman caught the long blue hair that flooded down, as well as the X-shaped scar on his face, between his eyes that shown with wolfish gold. He glared angrily at the man who was throned with the highest seat in the room.

_"A WOMAN has been brought into this Organization?!"_ the savage man snarled, outraged. _"How could you allow this?!"_

Murmurs of suppressed uproar began being uttered at that initiation. The woman turned her head to survey her left, where a young man had leaned forward, snickering down at her. His shock of red hair was a dead surprise to her.

"Well, it depends," the young man laughed, shaking his mane of hair that rose like a flame. "What's she good for?"

Another young man, this time with a dirty-blond mullet, muttered, "Well, that's why she was brought in: to see what she's got."

The other man sniffed. "I can think of a few things." He sat back to let his elusive remark sink into the woman's skin.

She glared fiercely at the insolent man, who smirked smugly at her. All she could do was grit her teeth in seething fury, which boiled and itched under her pale skin, like scarabs nipping at her veins. Her knuckles were white from her fists clenched so tightly, and her body trembled with dull yet mentally sharp anger.

"That is enough," came the clear command; the cloaked figure from the highest chair rose up, and instantly everyone in the vicinity quieted and seated themselves properly. "You were all new to this Organization once, this situation is no different for our newest member."

"But a woman!" The blue-haired man again. "We are to instill fear in the hearts of everyone! We cannot take in a weakling like this!" he snapped viciously, pointing an accusing finger down at the woman. His rage bubbled when the woman returned his glare with a leer of her own. _"I'll flay you!"_ he roared, prepared to leap down.

_"Stop."_

The blue-haired man stopped immediately and seated himself, hanging his head in what looked like shame.

The man who had said this took off his hood to let his silver hair tumble down. His amber eyes were fixated on the newest recruit as he rumbled, "You are a shell of your former self, as we all are. All you have now is your former name, which you can barely recall now." He waved his hand in the air. "We shall strip you of your name, so that you may reemerge as the new you."

For the first time the woman spoke. Raising her chin to stare at the man who was obviously the leader, she said icily, "You may strip me of my name, but what _is_ a name to me? I am nothing in this world, nor any other." Her eyes swept around the room as she turned around with grace. "As the same goes for you all," she growled.

"Call us insignificant?!" a muscular man spat, long braided locks of black hair leaping about as an alien wind stirred his cloak. "We are the Organization, woman!" His violet eyes blazed as he cried, "A group who do not need the likes of you!"

"And what _are _the likes of me?" she returned. "I am the same as you all."

The big man clenched and unclenched his fists as he bared his teeth in a snarl.

"Mm," the redhead rumbled. "Lovely word-play."

Her head whipped to fire a stinging retort, when the amber-eyed man addressed the room's occupants again. "She is here, and that is that," he growled. His words, so heavy with finality, silenced even the blue-haired man.

"Besides," the redhead smirked, "there's a few closet women in this room, too." His green eyes pointedly caught the eyes of a pink-haired man and that of the man with the mullet. The former bristled angrily and glared at the jibing man, blue eyes glittering with hostility. The other young man simply focused on his legs, which were deliberately dangling over the edge of his chair. "What difference does is make?" the redhead went on, smiling smugly at the reactions he got. "So long as she can roll with the pack." His emerald eyes flashed at the woman. "Roll with the pack," he purred, "or get left behind."

The young woman made an expression of disgust at him, when movements of light caught her eye. She looked in front of her to see letters of limpid blue smoking around her. After a second's survey, she realized that they were the letters of her name. The letters ghosted through her being before dancing and swirling around her body, finally coming to stop in front of her, but with a noticeable change: a large X was weaving through her name, which was rearranging itself. With a miniscule flash, the woman found her rearranged name frozen in front of her, the X right in the middle.

_Larxene._

"The you that is no more has risen to become this new you."

Larxene looked up at the silver-haired man, blue eyes still. "Then I am to reside here," she said simply.

"Yes," the man answered softly. "Not only are you nothing, as you so say, you are nobody."

Larxene blinked suspiciously.

"A being devoid of the heart you were born with," the man said, his amber gaze burning.

"Unable to truly experience real emotions anymore," an older man with long, sand-colored hair added coldly.

"You are an empty vessel," came the soft yet solid tone a young man with silver-blue hair. "What's left of what shouldn't be anymore."

Larxene said nothing, only communicated her understanding through the barren wasteland of her cold blue eyes.

* * *

**A/N: This was just the whole intro, so I thought it might be at least a little significant...**


	2. Dead To The World

She gazed around the empty room, each wall the same as the other: plain, white, and monotonous. A sole window was near her left, where her eyes trailed to the bed nearby. Like the walls: plain, white, and monotonous. Larxene tore off her tattered shirt as if to strip herself further of her old self, which was dead to the worlds. Slipping out of her torn pants with hasty grace, she rubbed her hands over her smooth skin, milky pale in the moonlight, while taking off the rest of what she wore.

Soon after, as she dipped herself into the steaming bath tub, she pondered on what she had heard back at the meeting chamber. A being without a heart? How could that be? It was gone, yes, but wasn't she still physically functioning without it? In a spurt of frustration, she submerged her head underwater. What good did hearts do, really? Were they really worth being pursued so doggedly? Larxene pawed at her chest where her physical heart beat on in its rhythm; she needed _this_ heart to live, but what about the other one?

The questions buzzed in her tired brain until she finally finished her thorough wash. Wrapping the white towel around her slim form, she walked over to her bed, where she had placed the clothes she had been provided with. Normally, Larxene would have found it odd that everything was the right size, but right now she didn't care. Come to think of it, she didn't really care about _anything_ right now.

Larxene dressed until she had everything but the shirt on; she turned her head in the direction of her door, where the steady knocking originated from. "What is it?" she hissed softly, loud enough to be audible on the other side.

The door opened, and the redhead from earlier stepped through. Neither seemed surprised at all that Larxene was only wearing the bra and not the shirt; neither seemed to care. "It's you," she stated calmly.

"It's me," he returned flatly. He walked over to stare through her glass window, his emerald eyes roving over the dark, desolate city below him. "How are you adjusting so far?" he said as an opening for discussion.

Her ears perked as she stood by his side, careful not to have him at her back. "There hasn't been proper time to adjust," was all she said.

"I don't mean that," he answered softly. He turned to her, and lifted his hand between them. He put his gloved index finger to his own chest, just over his beating heart. "What's it like for you to feel it gone?" he asked.

Larxene frowned and tilted her head to the side in thought. She focused half her senses on herself, to fathom his question, but he spoke again.

"Can't you feel it?" he asked, and Larxene could very well imagine the desperation in his voice. "Can you feel what is not there? That gaping chasm in the chest of your soul that aches and eats at you? I wake up every morning, and the damage that was done the day before is repaired, only to be eaten at once again. But the heart isn't there... Why should we feel the presence of that which isn't there? Do these questions burn in you, too?"

Larxene stared steadily into his wavering, burning eyes. "We feel that it isn't there," she stated smoothly, tactfully. "We don't feel what is not there, as you say." She folded her arms across her chest, but her eyes wavered to the ground. "Why is it so important?" she asked.

"Why?" he asked, leaning in toward her voice. "You ask that? Don't you struggle to feel once again like the rest of us? To be able to experience fresh emotions once more like the rest of the people with hearts?"

Larxene's eyes flashed, and her jaw clenched tight. "What does it matter?" she spat quietly. "What does it matter to be like them once again? We are dead to the worlds."

"You state as if you live for _them_," he countered softly. "What about you, Larxene?" he asked as an afterthought, addressing her by her new name for the first time.

"What about me?" she retorted dully. "I am nothing."

"As am I," he went on. He gently put his hands on her shoulders, but she shrugged them off rudely. Not even showing any sign of offense, the redhead said, "But I still want what I'm working so fervently for. We are all nothing, Larxene, as you've said before. But that doesn't mean we _deserve _nothing."

Larxene looked at him, intrigued yet resentful.

"What do you want, Larxene?" he asked, his gaze blazing intently. "Don't you want what was stolen from you back?"

Larxene leaned back against the window pane on the inside of the room. "We can live just fine without a heart," she said flatly.

"So that's it for you, then?" he asked. "To live a hollow existence? A dead life without a purpose? This extra chance at life comes with a responsibility, you know: a purpose. If not, you'll just keep on living without a purpose, and you _may as well_ be dead to the worlds." He leaned forward again. "You may as well be dead to yourself."

Larxene's lip curled at the comment more so than the close contact. "I am not dead to myself," she replied in ice loaded with friction.

"See that you're not," the man said softly, his eyes turning somber. "For_ your_ sake. Not anybody else's. But there are other things that can occupy your mind," he added.

"And what is that?" she asked, the beginnings of a sneer curling her fine lips.

"You have a long way to go to reach anything," he said. "The lowest in rank... And a female among us, the males."

"Ragtag bunch of rogues, more like it," Larxene returned, tone scathing. "I can handle myself."

The man shook his head. "Empty words if they are not filled with action."

Larxene nearly snarled as she put her sharp nails to his throat. "Call me an empty coward?" she growled. "Would you like me to demonstrate to you that I am not so?"

The man had not flinched, as if he were actually anticipating the reaction he had stimulated on her. "Save it for when the situation truly calls for it," he said through her fingers on his throat.

Larxene's eyes flashed like ignited flint as she released her hold.

The redhead cupped her chin so he could stare steadily into her eyes. "Tomorrow you will be assessed to see where your abilities -if you have any- are." He noticed her upper lip curl slightly. "This will be the chance to show me and everyone else that you're not someone who can be pushed to the ground. If not, they'll walk _all over you."_

"I'm nobody's fool," she spat, disgusted.

"Right now," he said, low and serious, "you're Nobody's fool and everybody's fool." Her blue eyes swirled with the storms of winter fury as he finished his statement. "Show them that you're _no one's_ fool."

Larxene wrenched her face out of his hand, her teeth bared in cold, buzzing anger.

"I'll take my leave," he said to her. "But you still haven't answered my question."

Larxene looked at him.

"_Do you_ or _do you not_ want to work for your heart? Even though we are dead to the worlds now, it's all for_ us_. Not them."

Larxene stared hard at his features in thought. Then, "Yes, I will work for my heart. Perhaps the answers to my questions lie along that path."

_But what of that path NOT taken?_ she thought to herself. She shook her head as she realized that that kind of thinking was futile once she had already chosen.

The man nodded solemnly. "Your first step," he acknowledged, taking her slender hand. Holding it up between them, he said, "Here, you'll think that you are your only friend and that you walk alone."

"Do I not?" she challenged quietly.

"Choose that status as you wish," he said. "But know that I shall consider you an ally and eventually a friend, perhaps."

Larxene nodded once in acceptance. "I thank you for the respect, and may I know your name?"

He looked up at her. Still holding her hand up between them, he said, "Axel."

**A/N: The next chapter will focus mainly on her assessment, as Axel mentioned in here.**


	3. The Savage Nymph

Larxene could only stare steadily into the eyes of the huge man standing in front of her. The two were at the highest point of the Castle; a place called the Altar Of Naught. This man, Lexaeus he was called, was to assess her in combat abilities. Larxene sneered at the slanting odds against her, no doubt made on purpose; a large, muscular giant with powerful strength against her: a slim yet swift woman who herself had no absolute idea of what she possessed.

Xemnas he was called, the man with the amber eyes and silver hair. He stood away from the two as he said coolly, "You two may begin, though you are not intending to kill her nor mortally injure her, Lexaeus." His eyes flashed minutely, and Larxene scoffed inwardly on the biased remark.

Her head whipped back to Lexaeus at the quiet step of his first footfall. Agile as a cat, she dodged his opening blow, cursing herself for taking her eyes off the enemy. With swift, nimble steps, Larxene counter by batting at his retracting arm with her gloved fingernails. Lexaeus took her neck in an arm lock, where Larxene twisted her body like a slippery fish to whip out of his tightening grasp. Larxene took the millisecond opportunity to clamp her teeth down on Lexaeus' arm, jaws tight on the coat and flesh. Lexaeus slammed a fist on her head, and Larxene gasped raggedly as her head shook inside; from the blow, she let go of her biting hold.

The blood in her mouth had a strange effect on her as it rested on her tongue. She looked into his sky-blue eyes and realized she had caused pain in this man. Pain? They couldn't feel, so why were his eyes glittering so brightly from the pain? _It's physical_, Larxene told herself before launching herself yet again at Lexaeus. Writhing out of his hold on her body now, she had half a mind to bite him again, saving her thoughts on the feeling of pain for later. Larxene wrenched an arm out of his arms to wrap it around his neck in a strangle of her own, trying to bear him to the ground. However, she realized his weight distribution was overpowering her own; he was easily shoving _her_ to the ground.

Larxene would not allow that. But try as she might, she couldn't fight his strength for long this way. The sheer will to survive rampaged through her veins though, and she felt a hot anxiety to not accept defeat in _any_ possible way. Axel's words from last night echoed through her mind.

_Right now, you're Nobody's fool and everybody's fool. Show them that you're **no one's** fool._

Larxene spat in self-disgust as she sent a surge of power through herself, still struggling to tip the scales in her favor. She felt something white-hot but comfortable charge through her body and outward into something tangible; something yellow-white, flying into Lexaeus' chest, the Silent Hero unleashing a cry of surprise as he reeled back two steps. She noticed he was panting heavily before she rushed forward.

As she clawed at his chest, rips of fabric from his coat tattered away in shreds, blood revealing itself from underneath. Larxene was startled under her mask of cold determination, for she knew that her fingernails were not able to do _that_. Her eyes trained on Lexaeus this time, she lifted her hand to her eyesight.

Four yellow knives rested in-between her fingers, poised to attack again. Blue at the middle of the hilts, their bodies shined with moonlight and malice. Larxene smirked in dark anticipation as she eyed Lexaeus in pain, now clutching his chest. She held the knives at her side now, and stalked forward once again.

Something ripped open in front of her. A vortex of swirling dark shadows, purple tendrils writhing about. Xemnas stepped forward from the anomoly, his orange gaze intent on her blue ones. "That is enough," he said calmly. "You are done."

Larxene's eyes struck his own with black rage at the sudden abrupt halt at the battle, just when she was winning the fight. "Stop my battle at the first spill of real blood?" she challenged, her chin raised defiantly.

Xemnas stared back at this insolent young neophyte. "This fight took place for the sole purpose of seeing if you were able to join our Organization."

Larxene snorted and crossed her arms. "Rather rephrase that to _worthy enough_ to join the Organization?" she asked, her tone dripping with acid.

Xemnas never betrayed his vexation. Instead, he told her, "You may go about your business now until you are summoned, Savage Nymph."

Larxene snorted and sauntered away, leaving the vexed Xemnas and the injured Lexaeus.

* * *

"The knives," he said to her as she walked to her window, "they suit you."

"How so?" she asked quietly as she held them up to her face; the blood was still there, and she hungrily licked the rustic substance off, the coppery taste relishing to her taste buds. She had had them in her hands ever since they first came to her, for secretly she did not know how to recall them into her being, where she knew they had come from, as had the lightning that had burst from her during the assessment.

Axel flicked his eyes to the dark sky behind her. "As sharp as your tongue and as deadly as your temper," he stated simply.

Larxene finished 'cleaning' her weapons and looked at him. "Yes," she agreed, her voice low. "They cause pain...," she trailed off thoughtfully. Then, "Can we feel any kind of pain for real...?"

Axel's green eyes fixated on her now. "Yes, we can," he answered. "Physical pain is the basis for many instincts. When we experience pain, we react by finding some way to get away from it... to survive, in some cases."

Larxene remembered her own need to survive, back at her fight with Lexaeus. Had she felt the pain? Or was she too preoccupied with trying to survive the fight to notice? Her fists clenched tightly, knuckles turning white.

"So yes, Larxene," Axel went on, noticing her hands, "we do feel physical experiences." His eyes flashed with a condescending light. "I should think that would be obvious."

Her eyes blazed angrily at the tone. "Then feel this," she hissed as she slashed his right arm with her gleaming knives, black fabric tearing.

Axel stood rigid all the while, and when his wounds began to seep, he made a shuddering breath, half laughter and half pain. "I do feel it," he reported.

Larxene growled tightly. Axel ignored his wounds now and looked up at her, eyes gleaming. "So if we can feel physical pain," Larxene began, "why not emotional pain? Are they not connected?" Larxene tilted her head and thought on this matter. "Indeed," she finally said, trying to answer her own question. "Can we experience psychosomatic illnesses? Where the mind and body function as one unit, and therefore experience both physical and emotion pain?"

Axel looked at her in a look that was almost sad. "Psychosomatic illnesses are basically a strong case of real depression. They originate with _emotion_ as the trigger..."

"So what is it, then?" Larxene almost wailed, but the tone came out in a frustrated snarl. She wanted answers, and just when she thought she came to a possible answer to one of her questions, Axel counters it with reason.

"It hurts," she said despondently. She shook her head as she pushed herself off the window pane. Larxene burned with Axel's gaze on her back, not liking to expose it in the first place. She turned around to face him. "You are not to be at my back," she couldn't help but say.

"Don't trust me?" he countered, still seated on the edge of her bed, showing absolutely no signs of hostility. "Trust is something we can experience, you know."

Larxene narrowed her eyes in steaming rage, and left the room. "Not if we first have to move up from base instincts," she growled over her shoulder.

* * *

The need to satisfy hunger was a base feeling, just like the reaction to physical pain, and Larxene found her way to the large kitchen hall easily enough. A few members were already present: there was the young man with the mullet, whose name she learned was Demyx; there was the pink-haired man, Marluxia; Zexion, a higher-up, was just leaving the room via portal; last to be observed was the blue-haired man with the X-shaped scar on his face. Saix.

His golden gaze caught her form as she made her way to where the food was. "Larxene," he addressed calmly, rising from his chair. Larxene stood still behind the counter as he walked up to her, stopping at the other side. "I apologize for my behavior yesterday," he began, arms crossed formally behind his back. "And I have heard of your success earlier today with your fight. I congratulate you," he said solidly.

Larxene flexed her fingers in suspicion; she had figured out how to retract her weapons, and she wanted dearly to call them forth, but she knew she shouldn't right now. "I thank you," she replied with stiff politeness.

Saix nodded. "In both congratulations and apology," he said, charisma seeping off his body like a visible wave, "I offer you a drink of our coveted wine." Before her acutely watchful eyes, the Luna Diviner poured Larxene a glass of the dark ruby substance. Taking the glass, he politely handed it the Savage Nymph. "Here," he simply said.

Larxene took the glass with stiff acceptance. She looked briefly into his placid and unreadable golden orbs, then to her drink. The scent wafted to her nose, and Larxene repulsed inside. Her eyes flicked up to his face again.

"Poison?" the Savage Nymph asked coolly, acid concentrated keenly with scorn. "How tacky."

And she sipped the substance, finishing it in one swallow in front of the startled berserker.

* * *

**A/N: Honestly, don't kick Saix's ass for this. Bringing a female in after so many and all males was a big change indeed, just when the Organization was probably getting really noticed.**


	4. Small Scheming

Larxene's crafty eyes flashed like a fox as she set the empty glass down, nodding her thanks to Saix. "Lovely taste," she said smoothly. She sauntered out of the kitchen with as much grace as a goddess in her prime.

Saix could only stare, until he shook his head in disbelief, excusing the Nymph's show as nothing more than bravado. Turning back to the table he had risen from, his still eyes flicked to the marble floor in thought. To himself, he growled, "Dead by morning."

* * *

Larxene slumped along the wall of her bedroom, panting profusely for air. The poison had hit her right away, but it wasn't so bad that she couldn't keep up that show of bravado to Saix; she had succeeded, but now that she was alone and in the confines of her room, she relented to the floor. Larxene's blue eyes fluttered shut as she clutched her chest in pain. She could feel the fluid of the toxicity coursing through her body like a snake of venom, waiting to sink its fangs further, deeper, into her veins and arteries. She threw her head back, making painful impact with the wall, though she paid no heed to it. She exhaled huffs of air as she clutched her stomach with one hand, while the other held her throat, which seemed to burn intensely. She knew this was most likely a fatal poison... But she didn't plan on going out just yet.

Larxene managed to fumble underneath her bed for something that could expel the tortuous poison. Axel had given her several herbs from various worlds, among other things, as a sort of welcoming pack, earlier in the day, just before her fight with Lexaeus. She found the little black box, lined with red designs, and opened it hastily. Taking a small vile from the box, she tipped it to pour the powerful contents into her mouth. Larxene coughed almost right away, and stumbled to her bathroom to orally expel the poison.

* * *

Axel leaned against the wall, his green eyes trained on the closed door, dismissing the retching sounds coming from behind it. "Done trying to poison yourself?" he said as the door finally opened after the sound of running water from the sink.

Larxene glared at him, but said nothing.

"Honestly, what were you thinking?" he asked, and Larxene couldn't tell if he were scolding her or not. "Do you know what could've happened if you hadn't gotten rid of the poison in time?" He motioned with his boot to the open chest of herbs and remedies he had given her. "At least you're quick in thought," he conceded.

"One _must_ be in order to survive here," Larxene rasped, feeling the exhaustion assaulting her body.

Axel shook his head. "Poisoning yourself is just the _opposite_ of fighting to survive," he pointed out.

"Oh?" Larxene raised her eyebrow in challenge. "Depends on how much is consumed," she said elusively.

"You're going to consume more," Axel stated, "to build up immunities."

"Clever plan, isn't it?" Larxene asked lightly, indulging in herself for the briefest of moments. "Now let's see that bastard try and poison me again."

Axel's eyes flickered. "Yes," he said slowly. "Unexpected from Saix..."

"You think?" Larxene said scornfully. "I already knew he'd try something."

"I mean it's the timing, Lark, that's unexpected." Axel walked over to sit on her bed, while Larxene remained standing. "He's quite hasty to get rid of you," he added.

Larxene sniffed. "And I'll not be rid of so easily," she spat, her mood darkening.

Axel sensed this, and proceeded to lighten the woman's mood, for _her_ sake. "But why consume the poison in the first place?" he asked her. "Couldn't you settle with pointing out that it was poison in the first place, and watch the expression on his face when he realizes that you figured it out before you drank it?"

"Why," Larxene asked, fingers flexing, "when it's more savoring to watch him see me drink the poison before his eyes, and then see his face fall to pieces when I return the next morning, alive and unscathed?" She laughed, a bitter sound that bit like splintering ice. "No, Axel, I'd much rather prefer this plan."

Axel raised his head and his eyes glittered like a viper's. "Such taste," he said, in what could be said as smooth admiration. "How about we add to that plan of yours?"

Larxene's eyebrows raised and willingly betrayed her interest. "What do you have in mind?" she asked, her hand cupping her chin. She coughed, still racked raw from the expelled poison.

"Request to go on a mission," he proposed.

"What will this do?" Larxene asked, hoping he would elaborate.

Axel grinned, the reflection of a jackal on his handsome features. "When Saix hears you're already prepared for a mission, he and some other members will have a loss of face, especially if they too learned you'd been poisoned the previous night. Besides, this way you'll already have an opportunity to see more of the worlds, hone your skills, and perhaps finds clues to the answers you seek." The more he spoke, the softer his voice became, as if he too sought out these objectives.

Larxene's eyes flicked to his, her black rage completely faded now. "Very well," she concurred.

Axel nodded. "You'd best rest now, then," he stated.

Larxene blinked. "But I'm not tired," she complained lightly.

"Then you will be tomorrow," Axel retorted. "Don't tell me that you're not exhausted from your little episodes today: your fighting Lexaeus and then the whole poison affair."

"I suppose so, then," Larxene said hoarsely, moving to the bed like a cat salvaging its pride.

Axel rose and headed for the door.

* * *

Xaldin idly twirled his lances in the summoned wind, pushing down on the tips whenever they came within reach as he walked along the white corridor with his companions, Saix and Xemnas himself. The three heard approaching footsteps, one pair distinguishably light and purposeful. Saix trained his gaze for farther ahead, and his eyes froze on contact at who he saw.

Larxene was walking toward them, her steps measured and well-placed, as if she were gliding across the floor, her coat nearly sweeping the floor. In her wake came Axel. When she was in front of Xemnas, Larxene said cordially, "I hope I'm not intruding on anything?"

Xemnas stared back at her, expressionless. "No," he said, his voice rumbling. "Is there something you wish to bring to my attention, Larxene?"

Larxene nodded. "Indeed, I--" she stopped herself as she allowed her gaze to sweep to Saix. Relishing the hateful astonishment in his wolfish eyes, she asked him, "Surprised I survived for so long? Don't be." With the fox's grin, she turned back to the Superior, leaving Saix to seethe furiously beside Xaldin. "As I was saying," she addressed the curious man, "I feel that it is time for a mission of my own to carry out."

Xemnas' amber eyes flashed with what she knew to be surprise. "So soon?" he asked, eyeing the Nymph with keen interest. "You've only been here two days. Many members have waited at least a week for their first mission after joining the Organization."

"But I am ready," Larxene countered, her posture rigid and unrelenting.

Just as Xemnas looked as if he would decline, Axel stepped in.

"Superior," he began politely, lowering his head once in acknowledgement, "might I suggest accompanying her? After all, are not all the members to carry out missions in pairs?" Indeed, it was a rule that the missions be carried in pairs; both members would keep each other in tow, keep one from straying, so to speak. Axel's eyes were fixed on the Superior. "I can also report to you on her progress."

Xemnas seemed convinced of Axel's sound argument and persuasion. Closing his eyes and nodding, he deep voice sounded. "Very well. You two may leave now, if you so wish."

Axel nodded. "And the location?"

Xemnas thought for a moment, until he finally said, "If you follow me, I will brief you on the world you are to visit."

Larxene nodded at Xemnas, arms crossed behind her back. "Understood."

Xemnas nodded at the display of polite and very subtle charisma. Turning, he did not stop for them to catch up.

With a final fanged smirk at Saix, Larxene sent a spark of lightning dancing around her waist and up around her torso. "Do not," the Savage Nymph hissed acidly, "think I can be disposed of so easily. Not when I am entitled to the same challenge and purpose as all the rest of you." Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she continued smirking at the berserker, loving how he seemed ready to throw a raging tantrum here and now. She knew it was only the presence of Xaldin now that kept him from lashing out, even if the Superior was now out of sight. "Adieu for now," she said, all liquid malice and deadly charm, as she swirled in a portal of darkness to catch up to Axel and Xemnas.

* * *

**A/N: I'll tell you this, the world they're going to, is not gonna be a Disney world. True, I went through a lot of them in my head, seeing which one might fit, but they just don't seem to cut it for what I have planned for their mission.**

**Oh, and another thing, this isn't a Larxel, actually. They're just cohorts, schemers, confidantes... you know, close companions with that certain special bond. Though Axel DOES play a big part way later on in the story's plot and with Larxene herself.**


	5. Dance From The Ashes

Larxene looked down from her roost on the dry rooftop. "Such a crowded event," she commented, as she viewed the folk far below walking into a massive building for a ball of sorts. All wore formal attire: suits of silk and dresses of beautiful imagination... Larxene looked down at her own coat and praised her partner for thinking ahead; there was no way they'd make it in without scrutinization while wearing the standard Organization uniform.

Her partner, Axel, crouched beside her, the night lighting his eyes like freshly kindled embers. "This," he briefed, "is the infamous event known as the Dance From The Ashes."

"Pretty," Larxene said dryly.

"This dance is held annually, and everyone who is mourning over any kind of love they lost in whatever and however way, come here." He blinked. "It's main purpose is to try and help people cope with their heartbreaks and heartaches by meeting people who are going through the same thing."

Larxene snorted. "From the look of the outward procession," she said steadily, "it looks like they're letting in just about anybody. Whores alike can easily sneak in and take advantage of someone who's actually experiencing pain." Yet the whole thing intrigued her. Could a spiritual heart really cause such pain, that there was a festivity of lament that hoped to cure it? She could barely recall if her own heart, now long gone, had inflicted that kind of feeling on her. Probably not, if she couldn't remember it...

Axel grunted to the statement she proclaimed aloud. "Nevertheless, we're here _because _of their feelings."

Larxene arched her eyebrow. "Why so?"

"Their intense feelings, grouped together like this in a closed area, will attract Heartless. Lots of them. Our job is to disguise ourselves and mingle within the ball, keep tabs on things from within, while at the same time lying in wait for the Heartless. You'll sense them, don't ponder or anything, and then we'll strike."

Larxene nodded curtly. During the preparations, Axel had told her of the Heartless, lesser Nobodies, the works. And even their ultimate goal to reclaim their hearts: fulfill Kingdom Hearts, that heart-shaped moon in the dark sky. "Shall we get ready then?"

Axel nodded and shoved -without rudeness- the bag that contained Larxene's attire for the evening. She asked, "Must we wear these the _entire_ time? I don't plan on fighting in a dress."

Axel shook his head. "Course not," he replied patiently. "We'll sense their presence beforehand, and we'll simply get back into our standard attire."

This seemed to convince Larxene, for she nodded and began to dress with Axel on the rooftop, where no prying eyes were on them.

* * *

Larxene entered the ballroom, after Axel, for she was still guiltily aware that she still disliked having even him at her back. She shook it off effortlessly as she strolled through the anteroom and finally into the immense space of the actual ballroom. Angels in a painting on the roof flew across with broken wings and shattered arrows. The crystal chandelier in the center of the ceiling glittered with grandeur as the people below it mingled and danced to whatever tune the musicians on the left side of the room played.

"You don't have to stick with me, just so you know," Axel whispered in Larxene's ear. Larxene turned to look at him and his black silk suit, red trimmings on the collar and sleeves shining like blood. "So long as we're still in the ballroom and then on the field when and if the Heartless show themselves."

Larxene nodded to him. "Very well," she replied. As she watched him leave, Larxene put a red-gloved hand to her collarbone and once more surveyed the occupants of the ballroom. Her ears were on alertness as she listened in on the mingled conversations around her, seeing if she can gather information on anything. Larxene knew she was drawing attention to herself by those nearby; indeed, how could she _not_ attract attention? What with her slim, black dress clinging to her body, showing the curves; the dress tailing down to her ankles, with a slit down the middle of the right side to show a tease of flesh from her thigh and leg; Larxene also took into mind the thin straps wound around her upper arms, just before her shoulders, supporting the top of the dress, which betrayed just the right, supple amount of cleavage.

"What a pretty little thing," a woman whispered sadly to her downtrodden friend, who didn't appear to want to listen, too caught up in her grief.

"Can't imagine what creature would break her heart," another whispered.

Larxene's blue eyes glittered with itching agitation at the attention; she felt like a caged animal, and these people were her irritating spectators. More whispers.

"I've never seen her around before... You think she was a paramour?"

"Leave the poor thing be," came a random dejected voice. "She's probably as down as us..."

Larxene felt her cheeks burn and she weaved her way through the crowd for the sole sake of escaping the scrutiny. Finally, she was more at ease with herself, and she even found a large balcony to look out through. The crisp night air felt like a reprieve from the almost-stuffy air of prying eyes and heartbroken murmurs of self-indulgence.

"Excuse me," a soft male voice asked from a cautious and respectful distance behind her. Larxene turned, thinking for a split second that it was Axel, and saw a younger man instead. His eyes were the color of fallen leaves, his brown hair neatly arranged to make him appear less childish. His torso was slightly bowed, and he held out his hand. "Why are you out here in the cold?" he asked. "By yourself?"

Larxene's shoulders were raised for her own benefit. "I can't stand it in there," she said simply. Her back leaned against the railing as she looked at this young man. "It's stupid that they have an event like this. It feels like an exploit on one's vulnerability."

The man nodded once in an agreement of sorts. "Perhaps," he answered slowly. "But perhaps it's also to connect the heart with others that feel the same way."

Larxene's eyes flickered with a keen interest now. "How so?" she asked, almost in a whisper.

"May we dance as we talk?" he asked first. "It can be out here, since it seems you prefer solitude to crowds."

_Especially if the crowd is full of strangers who I do not know,_ she thought. Nevertheless, she was willing to pay the price of dancing with this man, if he would only tell her what he knew. She accepted his hand, and immediately claimed dominance as she led the dance to the tune that the musicians were playing inside. "So how so?" she repeated.

His sad eyes glittered with auburn as he said, "Every heart, no matter 'good' or 'bad', is connected; we are all born of the same heart. Which is why we have within ourselves a certain feeling. Know what that is, Madonna?"

Larxene scoffed inside at the title, but outwardly, she asked, "What?" She knew she should have been able to answer that question if she delved in deep enough, but she didn't... have the heart to do it...

_"Empathy,"_ he said passionately, still letting her guide him through their slow waltz.

"In other words," Larxene said coldly, "sympathy."

The young man shook his head. "No," he objected. "Sympathy is when you simply feel sorry for someone; empathy is when you can actually feel their emotions and relate to them."

Larxene bristled under her mask at the fact of being contradicted and then proven wrong. "Then what of apathy?" she asked loosely.

"Without feeling. Simple as that," he answered simply, careful of his steps. "We are all here at this ball because we can connect with each other, and then hopefully, we can rise again with a lighter heart."

Larxene was puzzled by this, thinking that she was meant to be alone in everything when it came to her being, just like everyone else. Wasn't it supposed to be up to only her to heal herself? Or did empathy really have something to do with it?

The man interrupted her thoughts. "What do you feel?" he asked suddenly. "Solely sympathy? Empathy? Or apathy?"

Larxene looked at his eyes, and both knew she was not prepared to voice her thoughts. His soft face leaned closer to brush his lips against her cheek, the movement light as feathers. Larxene felt like snarling, but remained civilized. He stroked her blond hair, and whispered, "You're very beautiful... I can't imagine you ever being in this place for the reason its publicized to be."

"Indeed...," Larxene replied, a note of suspicion on her tongue. "And such a young boy in this place?"

"My heart was shattered, and is still bleeding," he answered quietly. "Do you not feel the same feelings? The pains that wrench my chest open at a sole thought of the one I fell in love with? It hurts physically also..."

_Psychosomatic illness..._ The words rang in Larxene's head and, seeing this man going through it now, looking so pathetic and crumpled, the Savage Nymph could almost seem frightened at what a heart can do... She repulsed inside when his eyes appeared wet, pleading with her to empathize with him.

"I don't have a heart to care," she spat suddenly, her own empty chest hollow with the words resonating inside, ringing and sealing themselves within. "Pull yourself together, you pitiful thing." She realized that she was converting her own fright into open scorn, figuring subconsciously that this method would protect herself. Yet a part of her knew that this man had retaught her about matters of the heart, and she knew gratitude already.

Sighing minutely, she put her hands on the bent man's shoulders to straighten him. Looking into his autumn eyes, she said, "But can't the heart be healed like a physical pain?" she asked him, for the both of them. "A different remedy may be needed, but can't it still be healed?"

The young man paused, then nodded, visibly unsure still.

"Then do both of us a favor," Larxene said softly, her blue eyes glazing with the moonlight, "and find that cure. So that you may indeed rise from the ashes. You certainly won't find it here."

His eyes, so deep and young, locked with her own blue ones, which seemed to only just bloom open to the real worlds and their secrets. He nodded, thanking her with his eyes, and leaned to kiss her forehead gratefully.

Larxene didn't care, but she didn't like it either.

* * *

Meanwhile, on another kind of balcony, the pyromancer kept a keen eye on the dancers from his roost with arms folded on the railing. His emerald eyes had been trained on Larxene as she walked to the balcony and into the night air, watched as a young man followed her. That had been a while ago, and the two had still not emerged. He shrugged to himself, knowing Larxene would handle a young man like that stranger if something ever happened. All seemed quiet, as far as the threat of Heartless went.

His thoughts snapped as he felt a tremor within his body from nowhere. His gaze flew to the doors of the ballroom, and he knew he had to get Larxene before the shadowy creatures got to the people.

Quickly, he scanned the guests, and seeing Larxene just coming out from the balcony with the man at her heels, he knew she too had felt the strange calling. Axel also knew that she would be trying to seek him out now.

The Flurry Of Dancing Flames managed to catch her attention, and motioned for her to wait where she was. Walking out of sight from the guests, he portalled onto the balcony Larxene had just been at. He walked back into the ballroom, where Larxene was already facing him; the young man appeared startled and flushed at the same time.

"I felt something," she said solemnly, but Axel detected the curiosity beneath the voice. "Was it...?" She let the question hang out between them in front of the young stranger.

Axel nodded. "Time to go," he said turning halfway toward the door.

"Your uh, companion?" the young man asked uncomfortably, scratching the back of his head.

Larxene linked her arm with Axel's. Knowing he'd play along, she said, "My lover." Her voice was smooth as honey as she added, "Both of us mourning over the losses of our paramours, who just happened to elope together a fortnight ago." Larxene noticed the secret grin Axel was displaying to the young man, like that of a deadly, protective, and cunning fox. "He and I," Larxene cupped Axel's chin, "have reunited now."

With that, Larxene and Axel walked away, towards the door to face the Heartless, and both knew of the confused, dismayed, and saddened expression the man wore as he stared after the Nymph alone.


	6. Feeling Alive

Now in her more comforting Organization coat, Larxene stepped out into the chill night, the grass damp from moon dew. Her body trembled once more, this time with less force; she already sensed their presence. Beside her, Axel hunched his shoulders, his torso slightly bent, like an animal ready to bolt forward and attack. He stalked forward, and Larxene followed him in turn, toward the near woods; the creatures would come from the cover of trees and night and shadows. Larxene's hands flexed on occasion, her body taut with the friction inside her, and her eyes shone with the pale moonlight.

Axel turned his head briefly to look at her. "Remember," he told her, "Heartless can sense which beings have a heart. They'll know we don't have one, and thus will leave us alone. Unless, of course..." He let his voice trail out for Larxene to fill in.

"We provoke them," Larxene finished.

Axel nodded. "Exactly. We are nothing to them."

"Aren't we nothing and nobody to everything and everyone?" Larxene said, almost wistfully, but that may have been due to the fact that she didn't want to sound her voice too loud.

Whether or not Axel heard her, he did not show it; instead his head turned to the forest beyond. "They're near," he reported. "And they're coming fast." His muscles quivered with something Larxene didn't share, and this puzzled her. "Get ready."

Larxene only had time to blink before she saw the creatures coming toward her from the night and its veil of shadows. They came in multitudes, their stark yellow eyes the only indication that they were there at all. They would have passed the two Nobodies entirely, had Axel not sliced through several all at once with one of his chakrams. At once the whole hoard turned with broken sequences and slid over to the pyro. Larxene was appalled over the grim odds of only one on who knows how many. But Axel seemed to relish the challenge as he dived at the Heartless and tore into them with steel and flame. She heard him hiss loudly as a Heartless tore into his arm, ripping fabric and even flesh.

Larxene realized that she had frozen up the entire time up until this point. She felt her blood boil vehemently at herself; here was her partner facing incredible odds, and all she could do was stand and stare! She felt like a coward...

But she told herself she wasn't, and with such strength and conviction that, before she knew it, the Savage Nymph was also in the fray, slashing and breaking the Shadows with a keen ferocity that she felt, for the briefest moment, was not her own. Larxene stabbed Heartless upon Heartless, while Axel incinerated his own foes and broke through rank upon rank of the shadowy creatures.

Larxene found euphoria in the sheer shredding of their dark flesh, found pleasure in the fact that she instilled fear in these creatures: it was evident in the way they were caught between fighting or fleeing. Larxene struck across several at once, electricity blitzing through her body and onto the knives she wielded. Her sheer sadistic joy reached its paramount as she laughed and swung at her foes, practically leaping about in a graceful dance. She felt the importance of the fight, the instinct to survive, the grim satisfaction of fighting and knowing what you're fighting _for_.

A wave of electricity pounded through her body as Larxene slammed down with her knives piercing two Shadows; the lightning thrashed out and struck nearly every remaining Heartless.

As well as Axel, who fell back with a grunt. Three Shadows pounced on his back, proceeding to tear into his chest, though knowing nothing would be there. Before any of them could react, Larxene sailed over in a bound of ecstasy, throwing the Heartless off as she landed on them all, crushing the life out of them with her kunai knives.

A large shadow loomed over, and rose like liquid, revealing the large dragon-shaped Heartless, it's jagged fangs parted in ghastly animosity. It's wings were useless for flight, bare of any tissue, but all the same flapped and stirred up a small wind. The emblem of the Heartless was crested on its head, three horns curving in toward the black-and-red insignia. The shadowy creature lunged for Larxene, jaws clamping on flesh; the Nymph sent a surge of electricity to shock the beast's insides.

Screaming, the dragon reeled back and pawed at its mouth. Snarling, it slashed out, missing by a hair's breath and hitting air. Larxene panted and flew at the beast again, sensing Axel at her side. Fire and lightning combined to form a fantastic explosion within the dragon's chest, creating a massive firestorm within itself. With the last of its strength, the Heartless pushed Axel to the ground, sweeping its claws to rip at Larxene's stomach and down her thigh.

Larxene grunted loudly as teh Heartless parted its jaws in its dying death rattle. It vaporized into thin air, dying and fading altogether.

Axel staggered into a sitting position, knowing that all the Heartless that night had either retreated, or been killed. "Larxene," he said with a touch of panting to his tone, "we're done. They're all gone."

Larxene swung around on all fours to face him, her blue eyes still flaring with adrenaline and the light to vanquish. The flame slowly snuffed itself out when Larxene realized that the pyromancer was right. She sat down across from Axel as the two looked up instinctively.

"See those glowing entities floating from the dead Heartless?" Axel asked softly. "They're the hearts that they stole from everyone. When a Heartless is slain, the captive heart is released, and floats away to our own moon, Kingdom Hearts."

Larxene continued looking at the innumerable amount of hearts, but she asked, "The Heartless have hearts, so why aren't they like the other people who have hearts as well?"

"Because, Larxene," Axel answered quietly, "they have hearts, but they have no mind." When Larxene looked at his face now, he returned her gaze. "They can feel emotions, but they have no mind at all. They can't think, can't retain memory, have no moral standards at all; all they have is their brute instinct. The need to devour, their fight-or-flight reflex, the way they fight us if they're provoked. Mindless."

"And as for us," Larxene said wispily, "we have a mind, but no heart. _We_ think, _we_ retain memory, _we_ even have moral standards. But we also have all that the _Heartless_ possess."

"True," Axel replied, eyes shining in the night. "but because of what you stated in the former, we can think on whether or not our actions are supple, we retain memory to know properly of our fight-or-flight reflex, and we have morality to know our rights from our wrongs. We're not mindless, but we're heartless." He shook his mane of fire-red hair and momentarily looked down at the ground.

"Axel," Larxene said softly, "back at the ball, that man we were talking to made me see what a heart can do to you." Her blue eyes blinked and uncovered the veil of curiosity to reveal a hunger and thirst beyond reckoning, and she knew it startled Axel; it was evident in the way his eyes widened slightly. "Didn't you see it in those other people, too? What their emotions did to them? It broke them, Axel! Is this what we're working for to reclaim? A vessel of sorrow and grief and pain, that can drown and tear us asunder?" She leaned forward in her position, eyes quivering for his answer. Inside her, fires were spreading and blooming, coursing through her body and spirit.

Axel leaned forward as well, even though they were feet apart. "You know what you're doing right now?" he asked. "You're giving me the negative and not the positive. That's not all a heart can do. Don't you remember what else a heart can grant you? Happiness, innocent satisfaction, euphoria, righteous and clean rage, love." His eyes almost looked saddened as he continued looking at her eyes, which were gleaming themselves in their quest for knowledge. "Of course you'll feel those pains, Larxene, but if you're strong, those feelings I just mentioned and more will eventually help to lift you up again. It's worth everything.

"Did you realize what you were experiencing back there, Larxene?" Axel asked, red hair swishing ever so lightly in the weak wind. "I could see the light of battle in your eyes. You knew what you were fighting for, you wanted to survive. Instinct combined with a capable mindset. You're heartless, but at the same time you're not a _Heartless_. You felt _alive_. It's why we enjoy and relish in the fight so much."

Larxene tilted her head at his little speech. She nodded finally, and rose. "Take me back," she whispered, holding her head with a shaking hand. "I'm too tired to portal right now."

"Sure, Lark." Axel nodded and opened a vortex of his own to lead himself and his wounded comrade through.

* * *

Outside the ballroom balcony he had been on before, his autumn eyes caught the glows of the hearts cascade upward, toward the sky. To him, they looked like hearts, and maybe they were; anything was possible. But as he viewed the beautiful scene, he had no idea that Axel and Larxene had just vanquished the hoard of what could have brought death to the ball. As the pyromancer and lightning wielder sat down to begin their talk, the man had his own sort of epiphany. As he looked at the hearts, he wanted to be more like their state: free. He wanted his own heart to take flight, and be free of the anguish and sorrow and pain he was experiencing. He smiled to himself with such sheer happiness that a tear rolled down his cheek; he laughed and cried at the same time, as his eyes brightened with the color of fallen leaves.


	7. Feral Cat

Larxene stumbled through the portal, catching herself on her bed; her wounds had wearied her, and she just wanted to tend to them before retiring to bed. Behind her, Axel crept forward until he propped himself on the chair beside the bed. She stiffened, not wanting to show any weakness, but she also took in his sagging shoulders. "Tired?" she teased.

Axel grunted. "I should be asking _you_ that; _you're_ the one who tore up the battle field." He peeled off his Organization coat and shirt, examining the wounds on his arm with a better view.

"You're the one who received more wounds."

"Yes," he agreed, but Larxene could tell he had another counter on his tongue. It was true, and he said, "But you have the worst ones." He indicated her torn thigh and bloody stomach. "You're lucky you didn't get gutted."

Larxene watched him lick his wounds closed, his tongue rasping over the blood. She finally turned to her own, realizing that she couldn't do the same to the long gash Axel had mentioned. She mimicked Axel's method, and used her tongue on an open scratch that stretched across the back of her hand. She swore when she realized that more blood had leaked from the one she couldn't close with her tongue.

"You'll have to dress that one," Axel murmured from his seat. Rising, he crept over to examine the wound, leaving through a portal, only to return the next moment with the necessary materials. She was against the wall, waiting, while he took his seat on the edge of the bed, close to her bleeding leg.

"What if there's infection?" Larxene asked warily, eyes narrowing in suspicion as she slipped out of her pants.

Axel allowed a chuckled. "Heartless don't carry infection. And conveniently enough, you can leave the wound open, and no outside infection will creep in. You can dirty it or whatever, and it won't get infected. The only bad thing is that they're atrociously slow to heal if you just let them be or don't clean and dress them... Lift your leg onto the bed." When Larxene grudgingly obeyed, Axel noticed the mood. "You hate admitting any weakness...," he muttered somberly.

"Of course!" she spat. "And what's more, to let someone else see and tend to them... It's maddening." She crossed her arms and hissed.

Axel's shoulders sagged, but his grin returned. "Want me to cut you a deal?"

"I just want to cut," Larxene growled. "But go on, let me hear what you have to say."

Axel nodded. Reaching for a slip of gauze, he said, "See this gash on my shoulder? Well, let me tell you first: this dressing isn't going to be painless. Every time you feel the pain, just take it out on here." He lifted his injured shoulder. "Sound fine?"

Larxene's eyes danced like wildfire at the prospect of inflicting possible pain. "Very well, Axel," she concurred, and allowed him to take a look at her wound, while she hovered over his own. As Axel unwrapped the gauze to spread it over her leg, her fingernails itched to just scratch into the blood, and when her wound squeezed together, she hissed and bit down. Axel let out a hiss of his own, but remained rigid, true to his word, as he continued tending to the Nymph's cut. He used the medical tape and wound it around her thigh.

The rustic copper taste flooded her mouth and filled her with a sort of ecstasy she found euphoric. She lapped hungrily at the rivulets that tried to flee from the open wound, and returned to nip the wound when a stab of pain struck her again. Her body quivered, eager to retrieve more of the blood. She felt wings inside her flutter open and beg for flight. Larxene obliged to herself and sucked down on Axel's wound.

Meanwhile, Axel grit his teeth in endurance as he finished dressing Larxene's thigh. The wound still continued up to her stomach, and he reached to the side, getting a kind of salve. "Larxene," he said, shrugging his shoulder. She grunted, indicating that he had her attention. "This is gonna sting and burn, but it'll make this heal faster, so just be prepared."

"You don't have to tell me--" Larxene spat and hissed loudly the moment the salve touched her flesh. She didn't bite; instead, she leaped over Axel entirely and landed on all fours, her eyes wide and burning fiercely.

"I told you," Axel sighed. "Now come back and stay still."

"Get that crap away from me," the Savage Nymph snarled quietly.

Axel sighed, resolute. He rushed at Larxene with practiced precision, pinching the nerves at her elbows. She cried out, and her lifted her by the underarms, his thumbs pressing into that soft point between her shoulder and chest. Then he swiftly shifted his hold to grasp her by her wrists and held her suspended in the air. He shook her, as if handling a mad alley cat, and he caught the shining glitter in her eyes. "Cut the crap, Lark," Axel said, conscious in the back of his head that he was making bruises. "The quicker you cooperate, the better. Got it?" he finished as an afterthought.

Trembling, Larxene nodded and let Axel get the salve. She had felt so helpless and even... frightened, just a bit. The feeling had washed down her spine with such a freezing tremor that it made her feel sick. Sure, she could have called her knives, or even summoned her lightning, but the fear had cloaked that knowledge, leaving only itself in the light. She utterly hated herself right now for forgetting the knowledge of her self-defense.

Even as Axel rubbed the salve into her wound, Larxene was more focused on how she had so poorly handled the pain, then the fear.

* * *

Larxene sliced at the air, fighting shadows, intent on venting out the vapors of rage in herself. She gladly lost track of time as she began to lose herself in the solo battle practice. A few days had passed since her mission with Axel to the Dance From the Ashes, and she wondered -a sliver of thought- when she would be called upon to carry out a new mission.

Hours passed, and Larxene finally collapsed into a sitting position, her muscles raw from all the rigorous exercise she put herself through. Panting, she noticed a cloaked figure walking toward her. She examined the figure, and realized that it wasn't the deceptively thin-but-muscled form of Axel. She waited warily, eyes glittering, until the figure approached.

Larxene took in the shock of pink hair as the hood was lifted to reveal the smooth face beneath. "You're Marluxia, aren't you?" she asked steadily.

The Assassin nodded, and Larxene wondered how he had gotten such a title. Bristling warily, she asked, "You need something?"

Marluxia bowed to her. "Indeed I do. Xemnas has called you to accompany me for a mission."

Larxene frowned. "Where to?" She didn't like the looks of this man. He reeked of arrogance and superiority and wishful ambition.

Marluxia smiled, sapphirine eyes glittering. "The Land Of Dragons."


	8. Honor Among Nothing

Larxene clung to the fog and shadows as she wove her way through the village, intent on not being detected. Marluxia had gone to the other side of the village, scouting for Heartless or any other dangers. Larxene already knew to be wary of that one; he was not one to be trifled with, nor was he one who would likely grant mercy or pity. An assassin, indeed.

The Savage Nymph crouched down by a wall as she heard faint footsteps coming her way. They were too light to be Marluxia's, and she hadn't sensed any Heartless, so she instinctively flexed her kunai knives to her fingers, the steel blades glinting in the slowly retreating night. The set of footsteps stopped however, in front of the gate that was connected to the wall whose side she was taking cover by. She heard the unmistakable slide of metal from a sheath, and Larxene felt her pulse racing and her blood pounding. However, the footsteps continued forward, the figure slipping silently over the wall by means of a strong rope ladder. Larxene followed, her own feet seeming to move of its own accord, and the Nymph easily scaled the wall as well, the stranger never detecting her.

From the top of the wall, Larxene traced the figure as he silently made his way toward to what she knew as the establishment's main house, the only place lit with warm candle light. She could tell that this man meant harm; it was evident in the way he slunk forth, why he had climbed over the wall, how his sword was at the ready by his side...

Larxene knew blood would be spilled tonight, and she slithered silently into the courtyard as well.

The figure approached the paper-thin sliding doors from the side, and Larxene crouched and watched from the shadows. He slid open the doors, bursting in and pointing the sword's edge to the face of a startled, aging man. He appeared to have been meditating, but now he lay sprawled on his back; sitting up awkwardly, he tried to scoot away, only to end up backed against the wall.

Even in the quiescence of the night, Larxene could not deduct what the two males were saying. She deducted, however, that the younger man intended to kill the older one. Somewhere inside something screamed at Larxene, but it was in such a dull, suppressed sensation that she didn't know what to make of it. Instead, she gave in to the tugging of that strange something and crept forward with liquid silence.

Just as the man held up his sword to strike down the killing blow, he dropped his weapon with a startled grunt, eyes wide as he slumped forward. The body was dragged back out into the cold night, and the older man could hear knives pulling through flesh, and wondered who had saved his life.

Taking his cane, he walked with an awkward gait and reached the two huddled on the floor, one alive and one dead. The live one saw his shadow and hissed instinctively, jumping back. He held up his hands. "I mean you no harm; only gratefulness that you have saved my life."

Larxene tilted her head in suspicion.

"Please," the man insisted, leaning on his cane, "do come in so that I may offer you a small bit of hospitality. It is cold out tonight."

The Savage Nymph saw no danger in this man, and thus stood up straight and followed the man into the small room that she had mistaken for the main house. It looked like a place for meditation, now that she thought about it.

The man turned around, and his eyes widened. "You are a woman...!" he exclaimed softly.

Larxene's eyes narrowed. "Do tell me what is so wrong about that."

The man caught his mistake and shook his head. "My apologies. It is just that I did not expect this. In this land it is the men who carry out most of the field duties. I assume you are not from around here?"

Larxene nodded as she sat down, cross-legged, in front of the man who had already done so. "You could say that," she replied as she nodded. Her muscles were wired and taut, ready to fight should the odds show themselves to her.

The aging man nodded. "I see. Nevertheless, I am grateful that you have saved my life; I have a family to protect and care for." When the woman nodded, he asked, "May I have the name of she who has allowed me to see another day?"

Larxene's blue eyes flashed unreadably. "Larxene."

"Ah. A name not heard of in these parts. But tell me, must you have killed him in such a dishonorable fashion?" The man could not help the creep of disapproval from his voice.

Larxene stared forward, her body warm from her blood running faster in her veins. "What do you mean? A kill is a kill."

The man shook his head. "No, Larxene. It is not as simple as that. You stabbed him in the back, am I right? I saw the kunai knives in your hands. To kill someone from behind like that, when they cannot see your moves? It is scowled upon in these parts. Have you a sense of honor?"

Larxene blinked irritably. "Honor? When I am unable to feel its subtle rewards? Nevertheless, I know not."

The man looked sadly on her, and Larxene felt like a chastised child, which roiled her blood all the more. "To have honor is to live with virtue. To have honor is to have a way of living. To have honor is to_ be_."

Larxene's ears perked and she gave the man her full attention for the first time. "What do you mean?"

"Why go through your life with no honor?" he asked. "You are just wasting away your life that way. Even if you are nothing, you still have a sense of honor, that is absolute. Even if you have nothing, you still have honor. It is engraved in all of us; whether we choose to use it is up to us."

Larxene was at a blank, her normally acid tongue holding no bite. Finally she nodded, rising. "I have to go now," was all she said as she turned, deep in thought. As she walked out, stepping over that body, he didn't stop her, and she was glad for that. From what he had said, honor was something that everyone had, heart or no heart. If that was true, and she knew in her gut that it was, then it meant that she _did_ have something within her; she wasn't just nothing.

She met Marluxia at the outskirts of that village, just as dawn creeped over the mountains in a pinkish glow. "A fruitless mission," the Assassin rumbled. "We may as well watch the sunrise since we're here."

But as the sun indeed rose, Larxene felt nothing, for her thoughts were haunted by the knowledge she had just obtained. If honor could give her a sense of being and a sense of life, could it substitue for a heart, or prove better than one? Which was more rewarding? The question burned her insides, and she grit her teeth in pain for an answer.

* * *

"Father?" the young girl asked, as she and her family sat down for breakfast. "I heard you talking to someone last night, just before dawn. Who was it?" Before her father could open his mouth, the girl's mother chastised her for wandering around at night. "I was still in the house, mama!" she defended weakly. "I never went outside!"

Her fathr chuckled. "It's alright," he told his wife. To his daughter, he said, "It was just a friend of mine, Mulan, come to seek knowledge."

Mulan seemed satisfied, and continued eating. Her father looked on at her, and for some reason couldn't help seeing the woman from last night hovering over his daughter. _Perhaps,_ he thought, _Mulan will be like that woman: someone who will prove us all wrong about themselves by doing something great..._


	9. Purposes

"True," Axel rumbled thoughtfully, "I supposed we _do_have a sense of honor among us." He took a long drink from his warm beverage as he seated himself on the window ledge. "But do you really think it can substitute for a heart?"

Larxene's eyes flicked to meet the pyro's own. "Both give us a state of being...," she answered.

"Ah," Axel rumbled. "But what is it to fully truly be?"

Larxene was caught off guard from the deep question. What was it, indeed, she wondered? She searched herself for the answers, but she couldn't fathom a plausible answer. Then, "I don't think anyone knows the true answer to that..."

Axel nodded. "Because we are all different, yet the same." He set his cup down beside him, and his emerald eyes were trained on Larxene's face. "Therefore, we can safely assume that we all have different opinions. Which is more fulfilling? Honor? A heart? But you know something, Larxene?" He leaned forward. "It's possible to have _both_."

* * *

Larxene followed her pink-haired colleague through the transparent walkways of Ruin And Creation's Passage, headed toward the Altar Of Naught. "Why have you summoned me, Marluxia?" she asked, keenly noting that his body language told her that he didn't expect her to attack him from behind.

The Assassin turned, pink hair stroking his face. "Oh? For nothing in particular. All I wanted to know was how you were adjusting so far." He flashed a grim and calculating smile, and the Savage Nymph frowned ever so slightly.

"I'm making the best of things," came the guarded reply. She noted how Marluxia seemed so sure of himself, and how he thought she wouldn't be very much trouble for him in any way. In fact, he was striking her as somewhat of a totalitarian, one who tried regulating every aspect of one's public and private life.

Marluxia nodded now. "I'd recommend spending some time alone thinking about life here. Seeing if it's all worth it."

That last part came out as something elusive, and one of Larxene's eyebrow raised itself. "What are you trying to get at?"

Marluxia shook his head. "I honestly do not know the answer to that myself," he admitted, and Larxene somehow knew he was telling her the truth, that he wasn't hiding anything beneath the innocuous conversation.

In the back of her mind, Larxene knew she would soon be able to hold influence over him.

* * *

Larxene's confidant flashed the signal for her to move. The Savage Nymph nodded at Axel, and she descended the fire escape to meet him. "We've been here for the past few hours," she said steadily, but both could sense the dripping irritation behind her tone, "and we've found nothing."

Axel nodded. "Personally, I could hardly understand why Xemnas has us scouting Twilight Town for Heartless; they hardly come here."

Larxene walked out with him into a plaza. "It's hard to understand why they don't," she said, crossing her arms behind her head. "The people here are so carefree and clumsy; this place is an easy smorgasbord for the creatures." She sighed. "Honestly, why can't we just take_ their_ hearts instead?"

Axel rounded on her, and the Nymph was briefly startled at the shimmer in his eyes. "You would deny their happiness for the sake of ours?" he asked quietly. They were the only ones in that plaza who were not moving; everybody else simply past by, paying them no heed out of respect and courtesy.

Larxene frowned slightly in confusion. "I..."

"If we simply took their hearts to give to Kingdom Hearts, we'd be no better than the Heartless," Axel stated firmly. "We fight those creatures to release the captive hearts, and to ensure that they don't do it again. It would be defeating our purpose if we took the hearts of the people while still fighting the Heartless."

Larxene blinked, but her hardened gaze returned. "It's all about purpose, isn't it?" she asked quietly, and she felt her eyes softening to reveal that familiar hunger for what she wanted to know.

Axel put a careful arm around her shoulder and led her away from the crowded place; as they walked, he said solemnly, "If you simply go through life without a purpose, you may as well be dead."

Larxene looked to the side at him, frighteningly inquisitive.

Axel nodded at her silent gaze. "Purpose or no purpose?" he asked her. "Which one do you want?"

After a moment of silence, she asked, "Do you _have_ to ask that, Axel?"

And the pyro smirked at the grin on the Nymph's lips.


	10. Cowards And Running

Larxene prowled through the hot city, eager to attack; her partner was elsewhere, and she assumed that he had an inborn instinct that told him when the right moment to run off was. Snorting in disgust, Larxene clenched her fists as the shadows in Agrabah began to shift around her. Her fingers commanded to call of her kunai, and lightning danced around her waist, ready to assault.

When the shadows materialized into the familiar creatures she knew to be Shadows, Larxene leaped into the fray, slashing savagely at the darkness. As she slit through the head of one, another knocked into her back, biting; the Savage Nymph was barreled into an empty sales stall. As dust blurred her vision, the wooden stand splintered into a sort of explosion, and Larxene was flung outward again. Coughing, she turned her head to see a rather large Heartless still ramming itself through the stand.

Wasn't that a Fat Bandit? Larxene's left eye twitched while the other one widened; she secretly hoped it would somehow die of heart failure-- oh, that's right...

Larxene scrambled up and aimed a cannonball of electricity at the large creature, but it seemed to shake her attack off as it patted its stomach proudly. Larxene flexed her kunai when the Fat Bandit shot a trail of fire from its mouth. The Nymph hissed and dove for cover by a broken urn and several torn carpets. When the attack subsided, Larxene flew out once more and flung her knives expertly, aiming for the throat. But then she realized that it didn't have a throat anymore beneath all that--

Oh. She grinned when the knives smashed into its face instead, and it collapsed when Larxene channeled her lightning through the weapons. Beginning to pant, Larxene held her remaining knives and eradicated the other straggling Heartless that were trying to creep in on her.

The dust clouded her vision, but soon settled. The Savage Nymph regulated her breathing, when something pounded into her back, sending her sprawling to the ground again. Snarling at the foul move, Larxene turned to see the same Fat Bandit, yet considerably weaker from her previous attack. Larxene leaped up, but flames scorched her thighs and the woman's eyes widened in pain; they closed shut when dust flew into them. Coughing, Larxene was unprepared for the attack on her torso.

As Larxene was pounded to the ground again, she instinctively hurled her knives at the enemy. When they impaled impossibly thick flesh, they bounced cleanly off.

Before Larxene could think of a new tactic, her partner announced his presence. Sprays and jets of water collided with the Fat Bandit, making him reel away from Larxene, pawing its face and stomach in pain. "Now's your chance, Larxene!" Demyx shouted from the safety of the remaining stands. "Shock him!"

Larxene hissed in annoyance at being commanded by _him_, but nonetheless charged volts of electricity and sent the lightning flying at the soaked Heartless. As she watched the attack utterly destroy it, Larxene watched with a sick fascination.

The last wisps of the Fat Bandit faded away, and it was only when the area was completely cleared did the Melodious Nocturne come out from the sidelines. "Well done," he congratulated.

Larxene frowned at him, making him change his expression. When he asked what was wrong, she responded by saying, "Why did it seem like I was the only one, out of the two of us, fighting?"

Demyx blinked, caught off guard and thus becoming nervous. He scratched the back of his head, as he looked to the ground beside him. "Well," he said, stalling for a plausible excuse, "see, menial work isn't really my thing, right? And I really don't like fighting all that much; messy stuff, y'know? I really don't like it at all, so I try and get away from it as much as I can."

"In other words, you're a coward." The statment was so flat and cold that Demyx flinched. Larxene's cerulean blue eyes were trained on the young musician with such analytical intensity that it unnerved him.

"I'd much rather prefer the term of _pacifist_," he said weakly, offering a shaky smile.

"No," Larxene bit, shaking her head. "Then you're a passive coward, if you _must_ include pacifism." She hissed in annoyance, turned with grace, and stalked broodingly into a portal.

* * *

"Ah," he rumbled as she shook off her coat painfully, "called out Demyx on the first mission with him? What a way to start things off." He made a low, short chuckle.

Larxene sat in front of Axel after removing her shirt for him to examine her burns. "Doesn't everybody see it in him?" she retorted, impulsively defending herself.

"Actually," Axel said, examining a particularly large burn on her left arm, "we all notice his cowardice streak, but we make fun of it, not call it out. That must have been why he was so uneasy and agitated around you earlier in Agrabah, from what you've told me." The pyro reached down into the bucket, pulling out a cold, wet rag. "Hold still, this'll be painful as all hell."

"If I act up like last time," Larxene spat bitterly, "you can just shake me like an animal again, right?"

Axel was about to place the rag over her arm, but upon hearing that remark, he stopped, hovering over the burn. "You're still sore about that?" he asked, incredulous. Larxene glowered at the pyro seethingly, and he smiled softly, shaking his head. "Larx, I had to do it, otherwise you would never have gotten your wounds cleaned properly, am I right?" He dipped the rag into the water again and hovered it above the burn again. "Excuse me for possibly giving you shaken baby syndrome."

Larxene blinked, suddenly offended. "What's that supposed to--" Larxene never finished her sentence; instead she spat and nearly swiped at Axel when he swiftly put the cold rag over the burn. _"TELL ME when you're going to do that, you sonuvabitch!"_

Axel chuckled grimly as he soaked her burn, saying, "I had to distract you so you wouldn't see me do it."

Larxene growled tightly in her throat before allowing him to move on to the other burns. There must have been some sort of ointment in that water, because the burn on her arm was already changing to a healthier color. As he continued healing the burns all over her upper body, she finally sighed.

Axel raised his eyes from where he was concentrating on her stomach. Looking up at her face, he asked, "What?"

Larxene shook her head. "Thinking again about today with Demyx. Why is it that he's a coward?"

"You may as well be asking why Demyx is Demyx."

"Pardon?" Larxene frowned in light confusion, asking Axel to go on.

"See, remember what we were talking about, back after the Dance From The Ashes? About the fight-or flight reflex? Yeah, well, Demyx's reflex is dominantly leaning toward flight. He can't really change it, because he was born that way." He sighed, knowing he was somehow not getting his point through. "Know what I mean?" he asked.

"So you're saying," Larxene said slowly, "that if you're born a coward, you're a coward for life?"

"Not necessarily," Axel said cautiously. "See, that's where morals come into play."

"Morals?"

"Yes. See, depending on your moral standing, you'll either be a coward or not, or even somewhere in between; it's all depending on the situations."

Larxene nodded, her mind working with what Axel was telling her as he continued with his work. "So," she said as he pressed the rag on her sides, "if you're always running from everything, then you are a coward, of course."

"Right."

"Alright, I knew that, then. But Axel...?" she suddenly asked, and the Flurry Of Dancing Flames immediately picked up the tentativeness in her voice. "Can I ask you something about that?"

Axel raised an eyebrow, acutely aware of her sudden mood change. "Yes?"

Larxene gathered herself together as she pulled off her pants for Axel to clean the burns on her thighs. As the eighth member proceeded to heal the burns, she finally asked, "What if running is the only option? Does it make me -or anyone else- a coward?"

Axel stopped, his hand trailing away from the inside of her right thigh. He closed his eyes, and Larxene was wondering if he had an answer to that. Finally, he looked at her. "No," he said, and that single word held such heavy truth, that Larxene felt sated, if just for a few moments. She was glad when he continued. "If running is the only option, and you can't do anything about it, then run."

"And then what...?"

"You come back when you're ready." Axel resumed with the rag, waited for a pause, then asked, "Are you running from something?"

Larxene blinked, wondering at the question. "My choices," was all she said.

"As in...?"

"My choices as to whether I decide to stay the way I am, a Nobody; or to be there when we all receive our hearts."

Axel nodded in understanding. "So you're just not ready to face that choice yet, and the reason is because you don't know the full reality of each one." He placed one of his hands over her own in a friendly manner. "Even though you told me that you would work for your heart." Before Larxene could protest, he said, "It's all right, Lark. I know that you weren't fully aware of everything at that time. But hey, I'll help you to reach whatever goal you ultimately choose, whatever it may be."

The Savage Nymph blinked at Axel, appalled at his steady vow. Nevertheless, she squeezed his hand.

"Thank you, Axel, my confidant."

* * *

**A/N: If it seemed like Demyx was picked on a tad too much in this chapter, I didn't mean it; I just wanted the point of this chapter to get across. Larxene might've meant it, though...**

**Anywho, the bigger events will be coming soon.**

**To a theater near you.**


	11. Lapse

"Oh, I hardly see _you _around. Zexion, is it? Lovely ring to it."

The Cloaked Schemer's visible eye flashed with a glint of silver-blue as he watched Larxene examining several books on the shelf. "I thank you for the compliment," he returned politely. "And how are you coping with the fact that you are to be paired with Saix on your next mission?" He blinked in mild surprise when he got no reaction from Larxene; perhaps Xemnas had informed her already?

That theory was objected by Larxene's next comment. "Really now?" she drawled with slick astonishment. "I've been here for about a few months, and this is the first time I've gotten a mission with the Luna Diviner. How interesting." The Savage Nymph continued idly scouring the thick texts, skimming her fingers across new and ancient. "Has our wise and cunning Superior also informed you of _when_ I am to meet with his favorite?"

Zexion felt his back prickle with unease as he heard the mockery behind Larxene's honey-sweet voice, tingling with poison. "He said tomorrow," he answered coolly, never wishing to reveal his displeasure at this woman's exterior attitude. "You two are to meet at a village tomorrow. Xemnas shall show you where to head for."

Larxene nodded at the silver-haired young man, returning to the books. She suddenly chuckled to herself, and Zexion raised an eyebrow. Larxene sighed, soft but loud, and turned a happily melancholy gaze on the young man. "What _is _in a name, Zexion?"

Zexion's silver-blue eye swirled with wary curiosity. "Why the sudden question?"

Larxene smiled lamentably as she ran her slender fingers along the spines of the books. "A name can define someone, no? But what if we were already nothing to begin with? Do names redeem us? Or are they just there to give us a faux sense of being?"

Zexion had no comeback for her questions; instead, he could only stare at her, his mind wracking his brain for an answer.

Larxene turned a somber look to the Cloaked Schemer. "Look at me: I ask these questions, yet my hypotheses are contradicted already. You know how? Look at your name, Zexion. Look at everyone's names. Our former names are rearranged, but the 'x' is inserted. It is a reminder to us, to tell us that even though we have a new name for our new life, we are still _nothing_. No longer ourselves, but also not anyone else. Am I right?" She sauntered purposefully over to her companion, and Zexion, for the briefest moment, was unnerved. She placed her hands on the table he was seated at, and she leaned toward his face. "Are we _nobody_?" she hissed quietly. "Or are we _nothing_?"

"What difference is there?" he retorted, the hair on the back of his neck beginning to rise. "_No_ body, _no_ thing."

Larxene's blue eyes crackled. "So we are _things_ now? Not even spared individuality?"

Zexion's shoulders raised, his muscles taut with tension. He took in her eyes, the seas of blue that concealed a hunger beyond reckoning. It was twisting her, and the young man was quite sure that this quest of hers was driving her mad... "Larxe--"

Larxene didn't listen; she turned sharply to the side and prowled about the room, her eyes blazing. Zexion quickly raised himself from his seat and tried to approach the woman. "Calm yourself, Larxene!" he commanded quietly. "Don't get yourself so worked over!"

Larxene heard him, but he was far away. Her pursuit of the knowledge she craved was gnawing at her insides more viciously, and with every bit she gained and learned, the more the feeling increased. She wanted to attain everything she could; she _needed _to. If not, what was she doing with herself? Was it worth it living like this, or was it worth it living with a heart again? She lashed out at nothing as she snarled to herself; Larxene pounced to all fours and whirled around and glared at Zexion, who came to an abrupt halt.

"Larxene," Zexion said steadily, hands slowly going up. "Steady..."

Larxene, deep inside, was trying to contain herself; her mind was becoming muddled, buzzing with the lances and spikes stabbing at her. She almost couldn't take it; she fell back on herself and clutched her head in pain.

Zexion could only stare at her now; to see someone like this... He had never seen it before at all to begin with, actually. This... _This..._

For the first time in his 'non-existent' life, he was afraid...

Larxene's lips curled into a snarl of ferocity, her eyes flaming like that of the predatory wolf. She was sure she would lash out at the man in front of her soon, and she wasn't so sure of her ability to restrain herself...

The Savage Nymph stiffened suddenly, then rose. Zexion's eyes stretched wide as she took a step toward him; he was absolutely frightened of her eyes and the storms that they held.

Sparks of electricity danced around her slender form as she clenched her fists repeatedly. Yet, just before the muscles and nerves in Larxene's kunai-loaded hand worked to swing at Zexion, the woman was tackled into a portal. Larxene spat in curses as she wrestled in the arms of who she knew to be Axel. _"Let me go, you_ _mange-bag!" _she spat, thrashing all the more as he simply locked her into his form on the floor of her room. Larxene barely managed to roll onto her stomach; she tried bucking him off, but Axel only kept up his arm lock around her neck and torso.

"Calm down, Larxene!" Axel hissed into her ear.

_"Why should I?!"_ she retorted harshly, rolling back to face him. _"I need not do no such thing! What does it matter?! I am nothing! Nothing to ANYONE and EVERYONE!"_

That last part came as a shriek, and Axel found himself slapping her face; before he knew it, he was also squeezing her arms with bruising force. _"You call yourself_ _NOTHING?! When all you've sought and gained was worth SOMETHING?!_ _Don't disgrace yourself and fall into a self-dug pit! You've worked too hard so far to just fall into a lapse and give in to it!"_

Larxene stopped her fits of rage and stared at him, her eyes glimmering with surprise and confusion. She looked into Axel's blazing emerald eyes, and realized the horrible mistake she had made. The sheer realizations of her recent actions piled onto her, as well as the reasons for them.

Before either of them knew anything, something slick and wet fell from her eye.

Larxene blinked in dead astonishment and her eyes widened, making them threaten to spill the rest of that strange liquid. The sudden happening startled her into silence, and she could tell it did the same to her fire-wielding companion; he was above her, his eyes shocked and confused. Axel wiped the salty trail away with a shaky finger, and Larxene slowly raised herself into a sitting position. But that fallen liquid had thrown her mind back into those fuzzy yesteryears when she actually did experience them...

"The tears...," was all she could murmur, once she had regained her voice. "I had forgotten about the tears..." She looked to Axel, who could only remain rooted to his spot beside her. Larxene found her mind wanting desperately to indulge in this condition of tears, just this once... Just _this_ _**once...**_

Everything had happened so fast... Had come at a rush...

Larxene threw herself into Axel's open arms, and he cradled her shaking form. The tears were spilling down her face in so many forms... Tears of hate, tears of joy, love, sorrow, anguish... It was all spilling down her face and onto Axel's chest, and he continued rubbing her back.

"Oh, Larxene...," the pyromancer murmured, finding sympathy in his voice. "You're destroying yourself... You need a vent... An outlet... You're keeping everything so caged up that now it's starting to burst out..."

Larxene looked up at him, and her body began to steady, though she was still taking shaky breaths. She didn't answer him, but allowed him to stroke her hair and pull her into his lap, where he held her close and poured unto her a certain feeling that only a certain kind of understanding friend and comrade can place. He noticed that she had gone limp, and he carefully picked her up and placed the Nymph in-between the sheets. She was worn out raw, he knew, and rest was the thing she need now more than anything else. He made a note in his head to reschedule Larxene's mission with Saix; Axel knew that Xemnas would not force a member to perform a mission if they were unfit in any way, physically _or_ mentally.

Axel stood over Larxene's weary body and contemplated for just a small while. A few moments later, Axel crawled in beside her, knowing that -deep within Larxene's very soul- she needed him, and he felt a sense of duty to this confidante.

Maybe their next realization was bloomed to save both their sanities. Or maybe it was because they were sick and tired of this place and way of living. But both somehow knew, just by their close contact right now, that tomorrow would bring a dawn where they would devise a plan that could sweep the very stars away.


	12. Unexpected Pawn

Marluxia was training by himself in the grounds, unaware of the two Nobodies watching him from a shadowed window ledge. Axel tightened his grip on the sill, and said quietly, "There he is. Be careful on how you do this, eh? I know we thought this whole operation out, but if you influence him the wrong way, everything could be ruined."

Larxene nodded, her blue eyes fixated on the pink-haired man below. "This shall be the finest chess game anyone has ever seen." The calculating grin never left her fine features as she allowed a portal to envelope her.

Axel waited until she reappeared below, in front of Marluxia. His emerald eyes glinted as he watched her begin to converse with the Graceful Assassin. "Get him to trust you, Larxene, and we'll have part of our operation complete..."

* * *

"Oh, I know what you mean, Marluxia dear," Larxene replied indulgently, leaning on the nearby wall, arms crossed. "It can be so hard to live here, and under our... _conditions..."_

Marluxia nodded as he withdrew his scythe into his being. "Indeed," he rumbled, sauntering over to her. The Graceful Assassin seated himself on the ground and, patting the spot in front of him, encouraged Larxene to do the same. When she did, he said, "It seems almost suffocating, knowing our false sense of real existence."

Larxene kept mind of her body language, and leaned forward slightly, looking directly into his blue eyes the whole time. Nodding, she replied, "Do _you_ feel that you exist?"

Marluxia looked to her steadily. "I do," he answered quietly. "I honestly do."

Larxene nodded. "So do I," she whispered. "But it seems that many of the other members wish to suppress that way of thinking. It's atrocious, isn't it?"

Marluxia nodded, his eyes twinkling like twin stars. "Finally," he breathed, "someone who understands what I think of myself."

"It simply took someone who thought the same way to know someone else like that," Larxene replied modestly, yet inside she was quivering; Marluxia was getting on good terms with her, and she felt closer to the ultimate goal. "I understand you; the others are the ones who don't. It's pitiful, because they try to make us feel like we're all in this together."

The pink-haired Assassin grunted in agreement, and Larxene noted his shoulders raised and leveled with her own. He was fascinated with her, she knew; good, things will be much easier.

* * *

Axel gripped the railing, still looking down at Larxene; he had still been in the shadows the entire time, watching her converse with Marluxia. "Looking good, Lark," he murmured to himself.

He sensed a portal opening, and the pyro turned to see a blond male coming through. "Luxord," Axel addressed as the man came to his side. "I assume you have something to say?"

The Gambler Of Fate rubbed his cleam-trimmed goatee and rumbled, "That I do. And it's this: why are you spying on the second-latest member?"

Axel frowned. "I'm not spying, the both of them just happen to be there." His mind clicked. "'Second-latest'...?"

Luxord's clear blue eyes flashed as he looked to the side at Axel. "Indeed, mate. It seems Xemnas has found our final member. Why don't you get those two down there to come to the meeting chamber? Xemnas wants us all to get acquainted with the introductions of this boy."

Axel frowned again. "'Boy'?" he repeated, but Luxord was already heading through a portal.

* * *

Larxene and Marluxia were just concluding their conversation when Axel walked up to them from a portal of his own. "Xemnas wants to see us all," he reported, looking from Larxene to Marluxia. "He says he's gotten our final member, and wishes for us to get acquainted." When the Graceful Assassin rose to leave, Larxene mimicked the movement, but remained in front of Axel as Marluxia disappeared through a portal.

The Nymph looked up at her redheaded companion. "Final member, you say?" she drawled, a note of thin interest in her tone.

Axel nodded, eyes narrowed in thought. "And if what Luxord says is true, it's a child."

Larxene's blue eyes widened slightly in surprise. "A child?" she repeated.

Axel nodded. "Let's go. We need to get acquainted with him, Xemnas says."

Larxene nodded, her head tilted in growing interest. "Indeed. Let us see what makes this boy so worthy of joining our..._ decaying_ Organization."

* * *

"First we bring a _woman,"_ the blue-haired man growled, "and now we bring a mere _boy!"_

The child in the center looked up nervously, and felt the redhead's hand gently push him forward; Axel had come from his seat and went down to the boy, figuring it would make the boy more comfortable if he had someone beside him. "Well, look at it this way, Saix," the pyrokinetic rumbled loudly, a glint in his eyes, "he must be pretty special to have _Xemnas_ pick him up to join the Organization." His emerald gaze swept the room with a clever glow. "Or as I may now say, _Organization Thirteen."_

Murmurs buzzed through the room in quiet whispers until Xemnas straightened himself and silenced the room once more. "He is indeed 'special', Axel," the Superior rumbled. "Boy," he commanded, "show them what you wield."

Axel blinked in silent surprise; the boy had discovered his weapons already? Surely he should have had an assessment first? So how...?

The blond boy nervously held his hands out, and a white light began to glow around them. There, before Axel and everybody else's eyes, two weapons of legend appeared in the boy's hands. One of demonic design, dark and black colorings, wings at the hilt, with a chain going up the body. The other was an angelic contrast: predominantly white, soft colors around the hilt and head.

"It's a Keyblade!" Demyx exclaimed, rising slightly from his chair to get a better view. "Not one, but _two!"_

Xigbar, a few seats above him, gave a start. "Lucky son of a gun, that one is!"

Larxene was the only one who did not betray any sort of surprise; her arms and legs were crossed, and her crystalline eyes held a predatory gleam in them as she surveyed the young child in the center of the room. Stone-faced, she noted how the boy looked like nothing more than a young fledgling who was not yet ready to take its first flight.

Xemnas rose to his full height on his seat, and the Organization was silent. Larxene watched the boy's naming ceremony, taking keen note on the fact of the child's name: Roxas. After that, the boy was sent through a portal, to stay in the quarters he was given until further notice. Before anyone could leave, Xemnas commanded a halt. Intrigued, Larxene blinked and looked two seats to her left, over at Axel; yet the pyro shrugged his right shoulder, indicating that he did not know what was going to happen, either.

Xemnas's amber eyes glinted as he spoke, seating himself again. "I am sure you all are wondering why I have brought this child in."

"Indeed," Vexen responded, sandy blond hair pushed out of his face. "Why must you bring a mere child into this place? What can he contribute?"

Xemnas looked to his colleague. "I have sent Roxas to his quarters so that he may not hear this information." His gaze penetrated all of his members, a warning blazing within his fiery orbs. "None of you are to tell him what you hear in this room now. Understood?"

Larxene straightened herself without anyone noticing.

"Why do you think he is with two Keyblades, a Keyblade at all?" the silver-haired man asked. Before anyone could possibly answer, he said, "He is Sora's Nobody, the hero from the realm of light."

Larxene blinked, but that was the only action that betrayed her response.

"Then does this mean that Sora is no more?" Xaldin asked, eyeing the Superior keenly.

Xemnas shook his head slowly, causing a murmured uproar. "The boy lives, after being a Heartless for a short amount of time. This is why Roxas retains no memory of his previous life."

"And," Xigbar drawled out, "you know this _how?"_

"The Nobodies carry news to me, and tell me of what has happened," Xemnas responded. "They were there, hidden, when the anomaly happened, and that is how I found out of the Nobody Roxas. I tracked him down, and he had been wandering as a vagrant in a world called Twilight Town." His orange eyes glittered. "He is not to know that he is the Nobody of Sora, or that he is still alive."

Larxene grinned maliciously, her mind devising a way to include the boy...

* * *

**A/N: Fillers aren't THAT fun, but hey... -shrugs-... they're necessary.**


	13. Beginning The Unfolding

They called him the Key Of Destiny, for it seemed that the boy had the power of Fate itself in his hands. He was shy and perhaps even a little timid around the Organization. But in battle... In battle he had the force of an unstoppable beast, such was his clean rage and unstoppable fighting spirit. Larxene caught careful note of this as she battled with the boy, noticing his clumsy swiftness and atrocious precision. Even as she cut across his chest, Larxene knew that soon this boy would become stronger.

"Not bad, child," the Savage Nymph commented as Roxas stood panting in front of her, one hand holding his chest, the other holding that dark Keyblade: Oblivion. Behind her, Axel was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and staring intently at the pair. "Especially since you've never exercised those weapons before."

Roxas cast a wary glance at the woman, blue eyes sparkling like pieces of the ocean. Larxene gave a small laugh, a sound like the tinkling of little bells. "You don't need to be so cautious around us, Axel and I; we are neophytes just like you. Don't feel so hunted, little one," Larxene crooned darkly as she slid an arm around the boy's smaller shoulders. "We'll help you adjust, even if this _is _no way to live."

At that part Roxas looked up. "But if this is no way of living," he said softly, "then why are we alive?"

Axel's ears perked at the boy's voice; it was so utterly young and raw with innocence. How could a child be dragged into the Organization, even if he _was_ a Nobody? At that moment Axel felt a mysterious connection establishing itself between him and the boy. And yet, Axel couldn't place his finger on what that connection might be...

Meanwhile, Larxene placed a hand on the boy's head, and it was as if she were experiencing the same thing Axel was going through for the thirteenth member. A brief tingling sensation traveled up her arm and to her neck; it was as if a connection had been established between her and the boy, and this puzzled Larxene. Running her slender fingers through that soft spiky hair, Larxene aimed an intrigued expression at her older male friend, who simply returned the look with a curious make of his own. Before she knew it, she had both her hands cupping the boy's soft face, and the Nymph gently pulled the boy close to her, sensing no desire from the boy to retreat from her hold. Yet as she held the boy, her mottled crystal eyes were looking thoughtfully at Axel, and that mutual connection between_ them_ was now at work.

"Now, my little one," Larxene whispered as she held Roxas' chin up to face her, "go about the rest of your business. You are done for today."

Roxas held her gaze for a split second more until he nodded; walking away, a portal swallowed him up. The boy had learned the trick of using a portal rather quickly, that was for sure. Now that he was gone, Larxene turned to Axel, blue eyes thoughtful. Crossing her arms, she said, "Well?"

"What do I think?" Axel answered the unspoken question, hands on his hips in thought as well. "I say he doesn't belong here," he murmured.

"Did I detect a hint of softness in that tone just now?" Larxene replied, voice high and mocking, a fox's grin curling her lips.

"Did I detect a hint of motherly affection in that action just earlier?" Axel retorted, smirking playfully, yet knowing their game of banter.

Larxene looked affronted as she recoiled slightly, eyes glittering with scorn. "He is intriguing, that much I can say," she relented. "And you're right: he doesn't belong here."

"But he's just like us," Axel countered, as the two portalled into the empty kitchens. "So does that mean none of us belong here?" he inquired calmly as he opened a white refrigerator, retrieving leftover stew. "If that's true, and you know it is, then it makes things even easier for our operation..." As he said the last few words, his voice grew quieter until it transposed to a mumble. When the pyro came to Larxene with a bowl of the now-steaming soup, he sat across from her on the kitchen counter. As the two shared the meal with a single spoon, Larxene sprinkled a small amount of powdered poison into the substance. Axel had saved her life from poison early on; in return, she was building up his own immunity to it as well as her own. "Which one is this?" he inquired flippantly.

"Thornspite," Larxene answered as she crumpled the empty packet. "Remember it?"

"It's supposed to numb your limbs, right?"

Larxene nodded with a slightly proud grin. "Yes," she answered, "and you're progressing very well with it." When Axel only nodded once and let his eyes drift back down to the soup, stirring it loosely, the Savage Nymph frowned. "What troubles you, my friend? Your mood's been different ever since you mentioned our plan just now..."

Axel sighed, but said nothing at the moment; instead, he fed Larxene a spoonful of the stew, making sure a chunk of meat was in there for her. "Are you sure you truly want to go through with this...?"

Swallowing quietly, Larxene stared steadily at her trusted companion; sighing, she whispered, "I am fixed on this goal, and although it will end in the way I've planned, this has to be done." With a slender hand, she swept the air around her, physically showing Axel the kitchen, but mentally showing Axel the whole picture. "What are we doing here?" she asked as her hand went to the spoon. "All we are doing is leading a wrong path. No," she spat to herself, "we are_ following _a wrong path... How I despise the word... Xemnas is a blind one leading the blind; if this goes on, a far worse fate shall befall this Organization."

The Savage Nymph offered him a spoonful, and when he swallowed, he murmured, "But does it have to go this way...?"

"My confidant," she whispered, tone surprisingly filled with a soothing ache, "if it does not, how will I achieve _my _goal? This is no way for me to live, I now know... You'll understand in time." As the last part was said, her thumb stroked his cheek bone, tracing the black diamond marking there.

Axel sighed and nodded, accepting the finality of the seal. "Okay," he whispered heavily.

"And don't forget," Larxene said sweetly, quietly, as she spooned more stew into the pyro's mouth, "you still have your own special role to fulfill when I--"

"I know," he said quickly, cutting her off. Larxene frowned at that, but nonetheless forgave him when she relinquished the utensil, allowing Axel to serve her another spoonful.

"But now we must put our matters to the present," Larxene said, swallowing. Folding her hands together in front of her face, her eyes narrowed in a calculating manner as the Savage Nymph said, low and thoughtful, "Now, the boy... He is another of our incentives, as well as a playable pawn. And I know just how to include him..."

* * *

"Personally," the pyromancer said, flashing a cocky grin, "I don't think Roxas is _quite _ready to take on a brute like you, Saix. Your moony madness just might scare him off before he even draws his weapons." His emerald eyes glittered with satisfaction as Saix bristled angrily. "Wanna prove me wrong?" Axel challenged, raising a red eyebrow. "The kid's out in the training grounds right now; why don't you give him a personal welcome while showing him his place?"

Golden eyes flashed at the man's impudence, and Saix snarled quietly, "Perhaps I will."

And, after an easy bout of persuasion which led to Axel convincing the fight-thirsty Berserker to confront Roxas, the Flurry Of Dancing Flames smirked and walked through a portal. Reemerging into his room, he rested his crossed arms on the open window sill, looking down into the training grounds, inconspicuous, to watch Roxas sparring on his own. That is, until a portal materialized in the center, and the Luna Diviner prowled through to talk quietly to the young member.

"Your turn, Lark," the fire-dancer whispered eagerly, muscles quivering for the show.

* * *

"Oh, dear," Larxene said casually, from her roost on her own window sill, right in position. "Look at that, Marluxia: Saix looks like he has a bone to pick with our young little pup." She narrowed her eyes in glee as Marluxia, standing, looked down and at the pair far below. "Isn't it a shame?" she continued. "We've deigned to sink so low as to bring poor innocent _children_ into the Organization, and now we've got a man twice as strong trying to conquer him. how pathetic this order is."

Marluxia, drinking in her words, tightened his grip in the threshold of the window, sapphirine eyes glittering with animosity. The Savage Nymph grinned slyly, knowing she was filling his mind with dark insinuations and sinister strings. All she had to do now was pull them, and her marionette would fully be hers...

But now, below them, Saix had already engaged in fighting with the Key Of Destiny; the boy was focusing on dodging the powerful blows coming from the massive claymore, but it seemed as if he were barely succeeding. The two above could hear Saix howling in frustration as he swung at the boy's side, aiming true.

The boy's tearing cry was cue for her partner. Grinning wickedly, her mind whispered, _Your turn once more, Axel._


	14. Broken Order

Axel smirked, hearing Roxas's cry of pain from below; portalling, he was soon behind Larxene and Marluxia. Larxene turned and feigned a startled expression; Marluxia turned and frowned inquisitively. "See that going on down there?" Axel inquired, voice sprinkled with interested surprise as he pointed past the window. "Honestly, that's pretty low if you ask me."

Larxene glanced behind her and sighed loudly. "Indeed," she agreed. "I was just telling Marluxia how much of a shame it was..."

At that last part, the Graceful Assassin bristled angrily. "How ugly," he growled. "A child like that being challenged by someone like _Saix_ of all people...!"

The Savage Nymph nodded slowly in agreement, eyes half-closed. "You're right... This only proves my point that we have no real order here..."

Looking indignant, Marluxia straightened himself suddenly. Before Axel or Larxene could blink, the pink-haired male jumped only the window-sill and flew outward.

Smirking triumphantly, Larxene turned to Axel. "It's all falling so smoothly into place." Folding her arms across her chest, the woman's fine lips parted slightly at Axel. "You and I shall take this Organization by storm."

"They won't know what hit them," Axel countered mirthfully.

"And that is why they won't even see the terrible storm coming at them," she replied quietly, eyes twinkling like fallen stars.

* * *

Marluxia shoved the boy aside and out of harm's way, facing the Luna Diviner himself with his scythe. With unspoken decision, the two males engaged in brutal combat now, blood and fabric flying everywhere. Saix batted and slammed on the eleventh member, while the Assassin retaliated with swings and slices at his enemy. The Diviner hit the man across the side with his heavy weapon, sending the pink-haired man sliding across the floor a ways, red substance in his wake. However, the stubborn man nearly leaped back onto his feet and charged at the blue-haired man once more, delivering a slash down Saix's stomach.

The battle carried on in wrathful vigor, and the boy could only sit where he had been shoved, against the wall. Seeing the two men nearly ripping each other apart, Roxas wondered what he had gotten himself into. His weapon -Oathkeeper this time- still lay in his hand as he watched. Noticing that he was beginning to tremble, the Key Of Destiny tried calming himself by drawing long breaths.

As if sensing his nerve-wracked body, a gentle hand found its way across his shoulder. Not bothering to determine who the hand might belong to, the boy near-instantly grabbed the appendage and held it gratefully. His blue eyes, however, were still fixated on the fighting spectacle before him: Marluxia had unleashed a whirlwind of flashing thorned vines, while Saix snarled and swung his claymore like a madman. Roxas noted how much blood had spilled in the space of a few minutes; he squeezed the hand once more, and it snaked its way across his chest, and he was slowly pulled closer until a body was pressed into his back.

Steadily, Roxas felt himself being propped onto his feet, and another hand held him steady now as well. _"Shh...,"_ a soft voice crooned, however dark the tone innately was.

"There's so much," he murmured.

"I understand."

"Am I expected to do that, too...?"

"When you're in a broken order, you'll be expected to do anything."

"Broken... order...?" Roxas repeated oddly. "Am I supposed to fight like that...? Am I supposed to kill, too...?" the boy suddenly asked, eyes wide and wavering.

"Hush, child." Roxas felt a hand cup his chin now. "This is too soon for you. Come with me."

"We're just gonna leave them?" Roxas replied quickly.

"They're men. They're followers. They're hierarchy victims. They'll figure it out."

After this comment, Larxene led Roxas through a softly conjured portal to her room.

* * *

"You okay, kid?" Axel asked quietly when Larxene seated the boy on the foot of her bed. "Man, you're lucky Marluxia was around, huh? Saix would've slaughtered you." Roxas's eyes went slightly wide, and Axel scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Right. You don't wanna hear that, huh? Sorry about that part." His eyes flicked upward, toward Larxene, and he noticed the woman leaning against the wall, arms crossed. He knew that posture; she was brooding again, that was for sure. "Here, little guy," he soothed to Roxas, ruffling the blond hair. "Just relax now. You're fine now."

The boy looked up, eyes swirling with an intensity that pricked Axel in his chest; the sensation was rather cold and unsettling, it made his muscles nearby quiver for a split second. "If you say so...," the boy mumbled softly, returning his gaze to the ground.

Biting his bottom lip slightly, Axel went toward Larxene, whose eyes were also trained on the floor. Very lightly, Axel tapped her arm; when her blue orbs looked to him, he motioned with his head behind him, at Roxas. Calmly, Larxene mouthed the words _'Take him to his room for sleep.'_

Nodding, the Flurry Of Dancing Flames slipped a supportive arm around the boy's shoulder. "Come on, kiddo," he soothed quietly, "let's get ya to bed."

When Roxas complied and rose, the two walked through a portal and reemerged into the boy's simple room. Axel guided the boy to the soft grey bed, helping the boy out of his Organization coat. The boy took off his boots and shirt on his own, and crawled under his sheets. However, the young boy continued looking at Axel with an expression of forlorn and anguish.

Again, Axel was startled at the boy's intensity. Before he knew it, the pyro was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring with a look of concern on his features. "What's up, little guy?" he asked quietly.

"Will I have to fight senselessly, too...?" the boy asked, bluntly but fearfully.

Axel looked just a tad startled, but nevertheless he regained his composure. "Well, kiddo...," he began uncertainly, "I don't wanna beat around the bush with you; you look like you're already starting to see things..."

"Larxene told me that I'll be expected to do anything...," Roxas murmured.

"Well...," he answered steadily. "When you're with us, you're expected to work for your heart, because you're devoid of true emotions. You're expected to keep that in mind, and therefore not care _what_ you do in order to reach your goal..." Axel looked to the boy now, once again feeling that strange process of friendly, protective affection developing in his chest. The feeling was worming its way further in, and Axel was grateful that Larxene was firm in her decision to --although indeed include Roxas in their plan as a pawn-- never bring harm to this child.

Finally Roxas uttered the statement that began the workings of Axel and Larxene's plan... "It doesn't feel right here... I don't belong here..."

"I know...," was all Axel answered before rising to a portal. "Goodnight, kiddo."

* * *

"You two did quite a number on each other," she said darkly. "Does Xemnas know?"

Marluxia's blue eyes glittered with fading rage. "No," he answered lividly. "This was just awful. What is this Organization coming to? Taking on much younger members when they have no chance of surviving here? It's horrid, I tell you."

"Why don't you tell that to Xemnas himself?" Larxene challenged, a hiss to her tone as she began pulling the strings.

Marluxia stiffened, irritated. "Oh, I'll tell him alright," the Graceful Assassin growled. "But I'll need your help with it."

Raising a blond eyebrow, the woman replied, "Oh? How shall we do it?"

"First," Marluxia said quietly, as if sensing ears on the walls, "we shall meet the girl Xemnas has been holding in the castle."

"I'd heard of her," Larxene replied, feigning mystification. "Before Roxas was brought in, Xemnas brought her in slightly before; she's said to have some sort of connection with that Keyblade master..."

"Exactly," her pawn replied. "And we shall pay her a little visit. Objections?" he asked as he turned with a flourish toward a newly opened portal.

"None at all," Larxene said flippantly, mottled blue eyes shimmering with bursting triumph.


End file.
